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Any dentist trained using taxpayers' money would also have to work for the NHS for at least five years and Labour's dental contract would be axed.

The Tories announced at the weekend they would bring back a requirement for dental check-ups to be given to five-year-olds in primary schools.

They claim two-thirds of primary care trusts (PCTs) in England no longer offer screening to pupils and say they would fund the move using cash currently spent on "unnecessary treatments".

But the British Dental Health Foundation charity attacked that plan today, saying the £17 million it would cost would be better spent on other preventative measures.

Screenings went from compulsory to optional for primary care trusts in 2007 after evidence emerged the check-ups had little impact on future oral health.

Foundation chief executive Dr Nigel Carter said: "While we wholeheartedly support the commitment to increase the focus on preventative dentistry, compulsory school screenings are simply a waste of money when there are far more effective measures available.

"We live in an age of evidence-based medicine and dentistry and the evidence is overwhelming that school dental check-ups are not effective.

"Indeed, far from improving pupils' oral health they have been shown to increase existing disparities.

"Screenings are not a preventative measure since they diagnose existing decay."

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "This Labour Government is leaving a terrible dental legacy which will be difficult to fix.

"Over a million people have lost their NHS dentist in just three years and dentists are fed up with the flawed, system of perverse incentives that Labour have introduced.

"That's why I am announcing today that a Conservative Government will immediately cut waste and bureaucracy and restore access to an NHS dentist to the million who have lost one under Labour.

"And we will make preventative treatment a real priority because we urgently need to improve our nation's dental health.

"Our plans will create real incentives for dentists to help people avoid tooth decay, so that we can cut the shocking rise in the number of people needing to have their teeth pulled out."

Susie Sanderson, chair of the British Dental Association's executive board, said: "The problems with the dental contract introduced in 2006 have been well documented, with the profession, patient groups and even the Health Select Committee noting the significant difficulties that have been created.

"In seeking to reform the system it is important that all patients are able to access dentistry and that dentists are able to provide the kind of modern, preventive care they are trained to give.

"The British Dental Association looks forward to seeing further detail of these proposals."